I've posted some 60 reviews on IMDb so far, and I've never felt the need to post one that contained spoilers. I feel that too many viewers are going to miss the point of this movie though, and I feel the need to help people appreciate it.

ISRA 88 is about a mission to reach the edge of the universe. It's unclear which time period it takes place in, but the technology apparently exists to use particles collected in space, in some sort of fusion or singularity reaction that produces thrust at hundreds of millions of miles per second (apparently without suffering the consequences of special relativity).

Here comes the explanation. If you don't want to know, don't read any further. Spoilers ahead. Major ones. You have been warned.

You could think of this movie as having been inspired by a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "Parallels". In that episode, some rare space phenomenon mixed with a starship's "warp" effect causes the barriers between parallel universes to destabilize, and elements from one bleed through to another.

Quick primer on the "many-worlds" theory: All outcomes that can happen DO happen. Each decision people make results in the creation of parallel universes, wherein every possible choice plays out fully.

Early on in ISRA 88, we see the ship crash through what appears to be some sort of solid shell that encloses our universe. It causes an effect similar to what was seen in Star Trek.

Multiple versions of the same events, and one character "remembering" things that haven't happened (or haven't happened yet), are all products of the fact that in one universe, the ship did indeed succeed in its mission to reach the edge of the universe; only this had unforeseen consequences. The ship quite literally cracked the barrier between parallel universes, causing elements from multiple versions of the universe to bleed into each other. That's why we see the different sets of astronauts and other different ways events unfold.

The implosion scene we see an alternate set of astronauts suffer was due to their accidentally deactivating a ship system that was shielding the body of the ship from its engine, causing the ship's propulsion reaction to eat the ship itself (a futuristic version of a nuclear meltdown).

Much of the story is told in reverse chronology. The first half of the movie winds up feeling very slow, largely because it begins at the end of the story chronologically. At this point, the characters have been in space for a very long time. They are surrounded by nothingness, being far beyond any stars or galaxies. The relationship between the two characters has broken down, and one of them spends most of his time drinking, watching TV, and going a little mad. Very little happens, and there's very little dialog to hold your interest.

That's meant to be an exploration of the condition of isolation, but even considering that, it's a tedious prospect for the audience to sit through; especially since we're occasionally teased with scenes hinting at an exciting premise.

Things get more interesting toward the "end", when not only does the plot become more dense, but the characters are also showing actual interaction and their relationship develops.

It's due to the long monotony in much of the film that I'm forced to give it a lower rating. It's otherwise not bad. The production looks relatively glossy, the acting is good, and the plot is interesting and original.

A few strategic cuts would raise the rating drastically, if you ask me. If it had been given more of a pace to begin with, and the monotony were more hinted at rather than shown explicitly and excruciatingly for such long stretches, this could have been a lot more interesting to a lot more people.

I thought the plot of this film sounded intriguing and was looking forward to a cerebral sci-fi. Unfortunately, it was incredibly dull and slow.

2 men are tasked with flying a spaceship to the 'edge of the universe'. There is no explanation of how this is possible, and forget explaining the trivialities like how they have gravity on the small rather dated looking vehicle with 'egg-box' walls, levers, green screen text terminals and flashing light boxes...

The film left me feeling like I missed the point, if there was one.

Watch the TV series Red Dwarf for a pair of similar characters in space as you'll get a lot of humour and actually far more interesting sci-fi.

This is a weird film. It would probably make a better play. The space mission depicted is entirely unrealistic and the story told is revealed in a non-linear, disjointed way. So if you get past that description, and you aren't looking for something along the lines of 'Gravity' or 'Sunshine' it's not so bad.

But. It's kinda slow. It takes a while to work out what really is going on and what the film is interested in. The space aspect of it really is incidental, the film 'Moon' might be a reasonable comparison (another film that would probably work well as a play...) The final scenes are devastating if you've stuck with it. It's well-acted, I thought, with a peculiar retro-future feel that some people may find appealing. I nearly gave up on it about twenty minutes in but ultimately I'm glad I didn't.

While very slow, this is a intricate and subtle look at isolation and depression. Both charters are payed well but while interesting, the investment one puts into finishing the film is not rewarded. While similar to Interstellar this film has more in common with Moon where a isolated human being wrestles with their own daemons on a shoestring budget.

Many reviews claim it's boring or dull, I can only assume these people have never read a book. Mission 88 is as slow as Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke, bizarre like Feersum Endjinn by Iain M Banks and as poignant as Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton.

Spoiler alert. The movie begins in a small contained universe on a parallel earth that equates to the mid-sixties. Because of the nature of that universe, which seems to have a different physics, this somewhat retro technology has been able to mount a space bending quest to travel to the edge of their universe. Upon reaching the edge the universal cracks and the characters experience some of the parallel realities and memories that are most closely associated with certain memes in their lives.(Bees, an eel and a green wire are prime connecting memes that unify the multiversal characters experiences, of course along with the quest itself)

While seemingly slow moving there is in reality a lot of subtle changes that are quickly occurring in this exploration of Quantum Consciousness. Perhaps too ambitious a topic to tackle in a coherent entertaining manner. I enjoyed it more the second time I watched it.

Time is first revealed as relative and random/non-sequential. Of course, space must follow as segments of time occur simulataneously. Thus the characters are not only without any reality of past, present, future, but are also omnipresent. And even the characters themselves are interchangeable with other characters, thus, not even actually existing. And there is humor: As a dead guy in a bag is dragged through the ship, the other guy says, "What a drag." A scientist mathematician working on an impossible equation says "This is beyond the imagination, if you can imagine." Yes, rather tedious and dull, but the philosophical/scientific implications are quite wonderful for those who think about such things. For those who want to wrap their minds around something complex and profound, and even get tied in knots.

This movie is incredibly slow with long drawn out sequences where nothing happens. The plot sounded interesting enough and I was happy to see Sean Maher (Firefly/Serenity) and Casper Vqan Dien (Starship Troopers) both of whom I like but the movie just fell short of being anything other than a waste of 2 hours. Ever the optimist I watched it right through waiting (praying) for something to happen but it never came. Chronologically the movie was all over the place and the ending, I hate being left thinking "is that it?". The sets had a '2001 A Space Odyssey' feel about them but even thinking that just kind of annoys me associating a cult classic which was ahead of it's time with this movie. I definitely would not recommend this movie. Cheers

I actually have a different viewpoint than the negative reviews. I actually watched the movie twice . Like back to back because it was so intriguing. It is a very slow movie but it is very purposeful so that you can pay attention! Which is truly the point of this movie. The spacemen .. ( this is my first review so this may be a spoiler) that makes it home and gets the phone call at the end of the movie was told he didn't get the position because he essentially figured out it wasn't just a space trip but more so of the same day relived in different versions. I figured that out the first time around but decided to watch it again to see how he ended up making it back to his wife (which turned out to be him never leaving) . The movie lapse not only into different version of the same thing but also different time periods. It's an extremely deep movie. I have so many thoughts but I'd basically write out the whole movie if I keep going. Anywho. If you like to think very deeply this is a movie for you!

This movie is probably not for everybody, but hey, everybody has Iron Man 26 to entertain them!

I loved this film start to finish. I thought the acting was great, the tone captivating, the set serviceable, and the humour subtle.

The concept is extremely interesting, it's a shame the answers are not a little more obvious but I suppose that is the point. I was engrossed during the entire runtime and really enjoyed realising why things had happened at the start that were initially confusing made sense towards the end (i.e the doctor not caring that the colonel had died).

It's low on effects, thrills, and budget, but high in all the right places for the cerebral viewer.

If you like a captivating, very slow moving, pondering Sci-Fi that doesn't give you all the answers then I think you'll love ISRA 88 (Mission 88).

If you don't have a background in science or psychology I can see where you might not enjoy this movie. I have a university degree in physics and found it brilliant from beginning to end. Not all the physics works, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker because filmed entertainment never gets all the physics right. And I'm not a big fan of the Many Worlds hypothesis, which others have postulated this movie tends toward (read up on the theory of Eternal Inflation if you want to know what's really out there).

So, spoilers ahead: What's depicted in this movie is what takes place between two people who agree do to something no one should ever be asked to do. In a universe different from our own, in an era where the rest of their technology is approximately equivalent to where ours was in the 1970s, the scientists have figured out a way to travel through space at a billion light years per year. When the astronauts achieve their goal (breaking through the edge of their universe), multiple universes (and times) begin to merge into their own. But by then, having spent 13 years in space together, the astronauts' mental health and ability to interact has eroded to zero. As other reviewers have noted, the movie begins at the end and (for the most part) moves backward in time, showing with riveting effectiveness how the astronauts descend into their own, and their interpersonal, mental collapses.

Other reviewers have posted a big "what the hell" about the ending; final major spoiler: The movie ends in a universe where the the scientist (Dr. Abe Anderson) is not selected for the mission. The reason being that in his universe his wife has not left him, therefore he fails the mission planner's criteria: a pilot who only cares about flying and a scientist with pretty much nothing left to live for.

I will not repeat the items others pointed out about this movie. I will add some points of my own.

Spoiler alert! If you continue reading, you will be presented with key elements of the movie.

I think the majority of the current scientific community would agree that our universe is finite yet unbounded; there is no end point. But let's assume there is. That point would be at least 13.5 billion light years from us. The ship would have to be traveling at a trans warp speed, yet the two guys are talking to a man on Earth in real time. Really? And there are absolutely no relativistic issues to deal with. They even have an odd looking observation area where they can watch objects zoom past them.

We had some background 'science' given to us, but it was lacking, to say the least. There was talk of equations that had numbers that were 'theoretical', beyond even imaginary numbers. There were lots of equations that daughter of Maude adjusted from time to time. She works best when just dancing to 'The Hustle'. Anyway, no one ever told us the why of it all.

It was a curious thing that there were two experiments, one with bees and the other with an electric eel. The objective was to study the effects of a weightless environment. Trouble is, the guys seemed to be working in an environment with standard Earth gravity. Odd that no one thought of the why here.

The hardware in the ship was very strange. The monitor for watching old sitcoms was something from 1958, and used a wired remote control. Most people reading this have probably never even seen a wired remote. We are led to believe that the command center was just there for the pilot to play with, and did not really do anything. There was nothing on the ship that looked remotely modern; it looked more like left over pieces of hardware from 'Lost in Space'.

The plot? Well, I did not notice one. I really gave this movie every chance. Boring, boring, boring. Long, very long scenes where nothing of any importance happened. I wonder that the director ever asked 'how does this scene move the story along?' Things happened with absolutely no explanation. The characters changed their basic personalities, and the end made me angry. No one could think of something interesting to happen, or at least make the audience think? Really?

I walked away from this movie wondering why anyone bothered to create it, much less why anyone would bother to watch it. Two words of advice: run screaming.

I have two words to describe this movie. Quantum consciousness. If these two words do not appeal to you then move on. However, if you find quantum consciousness appealing then you may appreciate this movie. Be warned this is a very, very slow moving movie. However, it does a great job of describing its narrative on... Well, I suppose I will refrain from continuing due to the possibility of spoiling the ending. If you are a quantum physicist remember that this is a movie so just relax.

I checked this review off as a possible 'spoiler' simply because this movie has a major unintended detraction going against it: It's called Sci-Fi.

To the Average Audience Viewer, Sci-Fi means Robots, Monsters, Aliens, Space Battles, Super Action, and Special Effects guaranteed to render you epileptic.

And Worse-- Something with the Title: "Beyond the Edge"...of the ENTIRE Universe, no less, garners vague intimations so grandiose that anything less than Meeting God Himself would be an insulting letdown.

Average People who pulled this movie on the basis of The Name & The Genre cannot be blamed for thumbing-down this movie as a boring and confusing waste of an hour and a half.

I didn't know exactly what to expect either when I popped it in late last night. I was expecting a quickie end of the universe space adventure before I went to bed...and I ended up scratching my head as I realized it was a fictional thought experiment posing the question: What would the actual EDGE of the Universe actually be Like? What would happen to Physics? What would happen to Time? What would happen to the men who entered such as Region? When you realize those are the actual questions being talked about by Dr Withersford (Adrienne Barbeau)...then the weird backward moving, out of sequence, time sequences and multiplicity playing themselves by the two space travelers is the whole point of the movie...

Also-- further suspension of belief than is usual for Sci-Fi is required herein...simply, the anachronistic technology of the ship itself is seemingly the product of an alternate Earth/Universe that somehow manages to reach the END of the Universe even within the relativistic lifespans of its pilots...

I'll grant you...I DID Fast Forward thru a goodly portion of the scenes just to get to the next scenes...but when the movie ended and I sat there scratching my head...I found myself intrigued by the questions posed.

I give the Movie 7 out of 10 for a Brave Effort. You Have to be 'In the Mood' for this movie. Definitely NOT a Main event for a Saturday Night, but an interesting Thought Provoker...

I saw this movie on the DVD rack at my local supermarket, and as I like space/sci-fi adventures, and it had a picture of the Space Shuttle on the cover,I spent £7 to buy it.Worst decision of the year by a long way!The vast majority of the running time consists of two astronauts wandering aimlessly around a set that looks like it was left over from a school play, and that's about it. Perhaps I missed something (I certainly didn't see the Space Shuttle at any time during the film) but as far as I could tell there is no plot other than a vague 'attempt to reach the edge of the universe' wherever,or whatever, that might be. I suspect the people responsible for this mess were trying to make some profound point about space, time, mankind, or some other deep concept but they have failed and the film is dull, pointless and totally without merit. If that hasn't put you off, I've got a second-hand DVD going cheap...

I am a big fan of science fiction movies and television shows. This is unfortunate because almost all fare these days is completely devoid of any ideas, with none of the striving towards the new and strange which should be the hallmark of a science fiction production. I include virtually every big budget science fiction film, especially the new Star Trek, the Marvel films, and the NU Doctor Who. Huge amounts of money are spent to make complete drivel which is not even marked by interesting use of CGI.

In this desert of science fiction film-making, one finds an occasional excellent, original, well-produced movie. ISRA88 is not that movie. The acting is bad, the sets are bad, the science doesn't make sense---and yet.. ISRA88 has the germ of an original idea involving the multiverse, and incorporates a theoretical concept for propulsion which actually has been written about by scientists. I am referring to the "black hole drive". Someone on the team for ISRA88 had an interesting idea centered on scientific speculation, which is more than I can say for the entire team of Star Trek writers or Doctor Who writers. For this reason I rate the film at 3 stars. There is some merit. I would watch this film 5 times before I watch another Star Trek or Marvel atrocity.(I don't recommend that you try this, however).

The slow pacing towards the beginning had me warming towards Mission 88, as the UK DVD issue is titled. The story concerns a mission to find "the end of the universe", a 13 year space journey by two astronauts, played by Casper Van Dien and Sean Maher, and the strange things that occur on the journey, and the tensions between the two men. Initially I thought, how refreshing,a science fiction film set in space that's not a mind-numbing, set your brain to auto blockbuster, and one that conveys perfectly the tedium and isolation of a long journey into space. Ever since reading Michael Moorcock's "The Black Corridor" when I was still at school, that simple theme has appealed to me. The atmosphere created even suggested that SF classic, Silent Running. Sadly, this film is no classic, and suffers from expecting too much from its audience, and is far too ambitious both in narrative structure and basic plot. Whether the plot revolved around multiple universes overlapping with each other, or a cataclysm caused by the ship reaching its "end of universe" destination, I am not sure, and towards the end I ceased to care. A great shame, as on the way there was much to hold the interest, some suspense and even humour. The Honeymooners spoof sequence in black & white was a pleasant surprise initially, but it led nowhere and did nothing. I couldn't work out whether the sets were low-tech on account of budget, or an integral part of the film's intended ambiance, though I suspect the latter, with songs like "16 Tons" and "The Letter" on the soundtrack. I can't rate a film highly that leaves so much interpretation to guesswork. 2001 A Space Odyssey, despite many reviews when it came out that were basically "What was that all about?", made perfect sense and was carefully plotted by a science fiction master. Plaudits here for a rare attempt by US film-makers to create something out of the ordinary, but writers and directors should run these things past somebody before time, money and effort is so wasted. Or was the film, like 2001 on first release, a little ahead of its time? I don't think so.

Had to write the personal view on this one, primarily to point out the level of the movie-subject underestimation. Firstly I would like to put aside typical movie-quality scales, like story-line (dramatization, scenario), length, acting, effects, so on. Its abstract subject is the one and only, but truly deep, thing that one should build opinion on. And from the beginning I didn't expect anything, but the artistic (maybe even post-modern) conceptualism. The exotic subject type explored before several times in the theatrical pearls like: "2001: A Space Odyssey" (it is slow too, simply to let us "imagine"/"trip-on" on many allegories in the movie), "Dark Star" (parody to the aforementioned), Tarkovsky's "Solaris", maybe even "Event Horizon". All mentioned are now spread over a half of century of movie making... Says enough about artistic freedom of such movies. And just to make it clear: I'm not comparing, except in artistic (and scientific) non-conclusiveness. Not a small bite for the makers only looking through that prism. The subject of the end of the universe itself is scientifically in the theoretical edge of modern cosmology and (even) some cognitive sciences to the measure of hard core artistic approach. And the one we have here bravely joins in - abstract and non-understandable. The boundary of space-time ends where it begins, could also be a holographic projection of Big Bang omega point or n-dimensional Klein-bottle perpetual knot.... Who knows? Trust me: not even Hawking nor any other cosmologist today. But, oh, what a great way to let our imagination construct (often wicked and far-out) narration! From time to time, we need to "brain-out" on this subject. So, let's not be harsh nor judge on this one neither!

I really don't know why I finished this movie. The only thing it has going for it is the cover art. I kept hoping it would get better, but when it was over I was relieved to be done with the P.O.S. Just look at the cover art and dream up your own movie for 5 or 10 min, then go do something useful. Or go re watch a good sci-fi movie you haven't seen in a while. You would have more fun stepping in dog do with new shoes than watching this movie. There are practically no special effect and very little action. There is much repetition. I bet it didn't cost more than 50000 to produce this. If I could give it a a negative rating, I would.

20 May 2017. This is one of the most boring yet intriguing sci fi movies. It order to really appreciate this movie, one might consider reading equazcion from NYC review entitled "What Happened..." (16 September 2016) on IMDb. This review appears to explain most everything in a way that allows those who haven't fathomed what they're experiencing (with spoilers) to allow them to really focus on what's going on and have much more interest in the story and how all what they are experiencing fits together.

It is apparently non-linear in its presentation and it does have elements from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) with its two man crew and in that movie a much more chronologically compelling and interesting mystery thrills and psychological tension as well as the by now its classic ending; elements from Solaris (1972, 2002) especially with the long, long stretches of less than action-oriented scenes from the Russian version and the strange occurrences that come up and the twisting disorientating but exciting and emotional ending in both those movies; Moon (2009) the little sci fi gem where an isolated astronaut begins to experience his own selves's inner turmoils.

The acting is decent considering, the photography is rich, the soundtrack enhancing. Of particular fascination is its special effects and visual design of the space craft and the strange universe outside that offers some unique and very creative weirdness, not quite sufficient to watch this movie just for the look (but amazing contribution to the sci fi genre and this movie itself). Unfortunately, I wasn't brilliant enough to figure out enough to appreciate this movie for most of it so I had to lumber through what I thought was a pretty boring and dull everyday activity of strange repetitive experiences. The ending of this movie however did make having to force myself to watch it worth the almost torturous journey.

For those that manage to get to the end of the final credits at least the bees seem to make it. It's actually at bit funny.

MISSION 88 is an incredibly slow and drawn out science fiction thriller that forgot to add in the thrills. It's a slow-moving enterprise about a couple of guys on a mission to the very edge of space, and possibly beyond. What this involves is merely a single location drama heavy on dialogue and short on action. Poor old Casper Van Dien, of STARSHIP TROOPERS fame, is one of the main players and does his best with the material, but he's as boring as the rest of the film. Adrienne Barbeau has a one-scene cameo which is pointless too. With no FX, no action, no suspense and nothing else to recommend it, this really is the pits.

slow boring with no point.the movie went no where i kept waiting on something to happen.

finally just speed up the movie to x2 speed just to get it over with in hope that it will make some point or that anything would happen to make sense.

i would have to say this is by far the worst movie that i have watched in 2016 bouncing a ball against the wall is more entertaining.

i never have posted a review before but i felt compelled to try to save others from the pain of this boring headache inducing crap movie. this movie is so terrible that it has made my list of 10 worst movies of the decade. there should be a warning attached to the title warning people that it may cause drowsiness headaches and nausea

It's not sci-fi. It's the exact contrary.

If you regard it as fantasy, it might become a little less unwatcheable.

And "the end of the universe". What does that even mean?

First I was baffled because the performances were so awful that I had to cry, but I am pretty sure they did their very best and never really stood a chance.

I couldn't even start to think of any meaning in the movie, as it lacked the cerebral stimulation that a movie without a point needs (like 2001: A Space Odyssey). The physics were so over-bend, that it destroyed any kind of illusion for me.

Apart from the poorly done CG, this flick has nothing to show. Bot does exactly that for nearly two hours.

Unforgettably forgotten.

p.s. The promised spoiler: It even has an attempted suicide scene (or ASS, for short).

Like a lot of sci-fi films, there are many genre landmarks that won't be named in order to be fair to 'Mission 8', although the genre has seen its fair share of stinkers, especially the low-budget ones. Have no bias towards films with low budgets, actually there are good ones out there that manage to intrigue and entertain regardless of flaws. The concept was a good one.

'Mission 8' is not among the worst films of the genre, SyFy and The Asylum's efforts will never be topped in terms of badness, and nowhere near among the worst films ever. There are a few alright points, though nothing comes off brilliantly. 'Mission 8' is still not a good film though at all, or at least to me, for the reasons described previously here. The problems are many and they override what 'Mission 8' succeeds (a little) in. It is not a case of watching the film with the intent to hate it, far from the truth. Actually wanted it to be halfway decent.

The acting could have been much worse than it actually was (though there is still not anything exceptional or awards worthy), with Casper Van Dien and Adrienne Barbeau trying their best and hardly being charisma free. Some of the music appeals and doesn't feel discordant or too much of a dirge (at the same time it's somewhat unmemorable and parts are intrusive).

In terms of the story, on the most part that is one of 'Mission 8's' biggest problems but it does pick up a little towards the end when it gets more eventful and intriguing.

However, the story takes far too long to get off the ground. Much of the film is very dull and has very little story to sustain the relatively short running time, no matter how much extraneous padding there was. There is nothing tense or suspenseful in 'Mission 8' and it is too ridiculous to get any fun and too muddled and cheesy to take it seriously.

Similarly, too much of it gets rather vague so the film fails to make sense frequently. The ending in particular is one of the biggest head-scratchers for any of my recent film viewings. There were a few nice ideas here in 'Mission 8', explored nowhere near enough. There is nobody to endear to, let alone root for, with such flimsy character development and so many irritating and barely logical decision making. The production values are drab and rushed-looking with afterthought-like effects.

Overall, not unwatchable but messy. 3/10 Bethany Cox

EXCELLENT MOVIE DESPITE OF SOME CONCEPTS AND VFX IT'S WORTH TO WATCH

Its not like 2001 its more like the Truman Show or Groundhog day. Not as funny but interesting and more twilight zone like. You do start at the end with an interesting in reverse mixed with alternate reality voyage. I found it interesting and sort of got what they were going for.

It does boil down to time and two personalities plus events chronology . I liked the music the foreshadows. The repetitive nature of each day was kind of interesting. I fell asleep and had to finish it next day. So there is that, its a thinking movie if you like those. It got you thinking about how weird it would be to know when and how someone dies and interacting with them ahead of time...Its OK